tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8093843871576649412011-09-30T13:37:50.786-05:00A blog that is more about the confluence of ideas and philosophies than any single set of topics.Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.comBlogger181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-42972244058002720142011-01-01T11:21:00.001-06:002011-01-01T11:21:59.059-06:00

Two visits to Bayport BBQ in quick succesion makes me understand why food reviewers go to a place many times before they write a review for publication.  My wife and I went for the first time on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving and then again the Tuesday between Christmas and New Years.  Our first visit seemed like an epiphany.  The ribs were perfect, the pulled pork lovely and the from

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-65115861738895515722011-01-01T10:00:00.002-06:002011-01-01T10:35:41.233-06:00

I started blogging as an experiment. I had been posting on a few blogs and figured it was worth some time to see what it was like managing a blog myself. Both from a technical standpoint and as a diary of sorts. Soon after I got the blog up and running I decided to go back to school and pursue a masters degree while keeping my full time job. Since my last post I have gotten two promotions at

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-55815474182457604832008-03-24T10:57:00.002-05:002008-03-24T11:00:44.586-05:00

The Onion has once again made me laugh more than anybody has a right to. Now I like Obama but this was too funny not to link to . And here is the rest of it.

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-78819088526160900522008-03-24T10:33:00.005-05:002008-03-24T10:45:49.998-05:00

This is a great article in the NYTimes about making decisions. read the article and then think about how these ideas could be affect very complex systems and decisions. It would seem that the more involved the decisions are the more time spent on average making them and the lower the net reward would be for making the right choice. It seems to me just another reason to decentralize and allow

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-11080854959465848812008-03-05T18:31:00.003-06:002008-03-05T18:59:27.506-06:00

Here is a great piece on one element of our countries environmental history. Since global warming is the favorite environmental topic of the day I think it is important to remember so of the other ways we have affected our globe. This article goes in to a good amount of detail on the introduction of lead into our gasoline supply the damage that followed. A particularly interesting item is how

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-71418560522176237582008-02-22T13:05:00.006-06:002008-02-22T17:30:40.077-06:00

The Strib has an article about the continued impact that the Theater Exemption is having on the smoking ban. The issue I talked about in an earlier post. Needless to say I think this is both hilarious and important. While I know that at some point the legislature will close this massive loophole I think it is an important example of unintended consequences of regulation. Besides. many of the

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-10686470828524950402008-02-21T12:49:00.003-06:002008-02-21T13:53:30.682-06:00

The Supreme Court handed down a 8-1 decision today that may mark an important inflection point in our regulatory lives. The court sided with Fridley Minnesota based Medtronic in a decision that eliminates a companies liability for personal injury on devices that have been approved by and meet FDA standards. No more suits for coated stents, pacemakers or other devices no matter what kind of

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-53019020027382349092008-02-19T19:33:00.004-06:002008-02-19T19:57:32.346-06:00

I found this site that connects the electricity used in a given zip code to coal sourced from mines that practice mountain top removal. This is a great piece for a couple of reasons. Most directly it can show us how the energy we used impacts the environment. Maybe more importantly it is a great example of how easily we can use available information to connect actions to consequences. I can

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-11566921299336767132008-02-19T09:00:00.004-06:002008-02-19T18:55:13.654-06:00

I am reposting this item I originally posted on a MNpublius thread. I agree that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing (socialist or free market) but the fact remains that we do not currently hav e a free market system of any sort. Saying so seems to place the blame on the market and fails to understand how much our current position is due to poorly designed regulations and past government

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-30801859843442724832008-02-15T17:40:00.003-06:002008-02-15T19:34:13.381-06:00

Though quite an old article I though it was worth posting in light of the most recent campus shooting. The knee-jerk reaction to these tragedies by some people is to crerate law that allows them to feel as though something is being done. The truth is of course that increasing the restrictions on firearm ownership only keeps law abiding from having guns. No person who is planning to commit such

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-46546159202146114052008-02-14T12:35:00.003-06:002008-02-15T19:44:40.503-06:00

I found this great article and had to share it. Below is a small snippet."What the “Anti-Capitalists” are protesting is not Capitalism. The G8, the WTO, the Free-Trade Area of the Americas, and the IMF are all objects of protest from young idealistic people all over the world and objects of scorn for the punk press. And rightly so. The problem is that none of these organizations is remotely

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-34011888158746484012008-02-12T20:15:00.002-06:002008-02-15T19:43:06.620-06:00

So the Senate once again bent to the will of President Bush and passed S.2248 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 2007. This means we are only a house vote away from this awful thing becoming law. This article gives a good overview of what the bill contains. If you look at the vote in the Senate there is one glaring fact of which everybody should be aware. the fact that Hillary Clinton

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-85201796292900939612008-02-11T18:30:00.001-06:002008-02-15T19:46:09.772-06:00

This is a must watch for anybody with access to a computer, which obviously means everybody who sees this. Larry Lessig, a Stanford professor and copyright expert, talks about how our current view of copyright is counterproductive in the truest sense of the word. He explains in a brief talk about how the democratization of "content" is critical. It made me think about how these same ideas

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-86840438652322130242008-02-09T21:47:00.002-06:002008-02-15T19:47:46.999-06:00

Matt Taibbi has written a great piece for Rolling Stone about how house and senate Democrats have sold out the idea of peace for the proverbial thirty pieces of silver. Their rhetoric on wanting to bring the troops home is nothing more than that. In the end Democratic leadership needs to have the war as a campaign issue come November. They need to feign powerlessness in order to fan the flames

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-41958071799603626522008-02-09T18:56:00.000-06:002008-02-09T19:44:32.654-06:00

The International Tribune has a very well written article on the environmental costs of biofuels. I important additional fact not often talked about is how subsidizing the production of these fuels will increase the supply of fuel in general, driving down it's price and thereby encouraging consumption. This fact only compounds the issues discussed in the article. Corn ethanol, the worst

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-11452928964039013582008-02-09T09:07:00.000-06:002008-02-09T10:02:27.644-06:00

So I have always thought the smoking ban is a ridiculous infringement on our property rights that uses a made up right, that of being able to go to any bar or restaurant and not be affected by tobacco smoke, to eliminate actual rights, those of owning property and assembly. So it is with great glee that I read this article in the Star-Tribune today that brings to light a loophole in the law that

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-62481151416564443072008-02-07T21:09:00.000-06:002008-02-08T16:54:59.487-06:00

This little baby is the Cree electric vehicle. A three wheeled all electric two seater designed in Switzerland. A car that if were available here I would buy in a heart beat as I only have about 4 miles each way to work and never see a freeway. This would be perfect for about 90% of the driving I do and the car my wife usually uses would take care of the other times.

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809384387157664941.post-13249675483317027022008-02-07T20:42:00.000-06:002008-02-08T16:56:46.704-06:00

The TED conference is a great series of lectures from people that represent a wide range of ideas. This is the second I have seen from Hans Rosling.

Kerosene Hatnoreply@blogger.com0